Looking for a humorous way to promote a small group launch?  If you’re a small group veteran, you’ll recognize quite a few of the types portrayed here.  With the right set-up, this one could be a lot of fun and make the sign-up a good one.

Available from Worship House Media, this crazy video could be just the thing.  Can’t see the video?  You can watch it right here.

One of the books I’ve been anxiously awaiting is Heather Zempel’s Community Is Messy.  A talented speaker and writer, Zempel delivered one of the most memorable talks ever at Willow Creek’s grouplife conference.  With a title like Community Is Messy: The Perils and Promise of Small Group Ministry, you just know it’s going to be a great read!

Zempel’s background as an environmental engineer provides some of the best illustrations I’ve come across to describe the messiness of the thing we call community.  If you’ve never heard her story about monitoring a pig lagoon (the treatment facility where “the pig poop” is gathered) to figure out how to reduce the stink…you’ve got to read this one.  Topping that one might seem a challenge until you come across her story about the development of an aquaponics system that featured tomato plants growing on top of a tilapia fish tank.  A fantastically successful experiment with massive unintended consequences.

Something to really love about this book is its very honest telling.  If you’re like me, you actually learn as much (or more) from failure as you do from success.  Full disclosure barely describes what you’ll acquire in a careful reading of Community Is Messy.

Embedded throughout the book is an inside look at National Community Church, one of the most fascinating churches in America in my opinion.    Operating in the challenging environment of Washington D.C., with “a demographic that consists primarily of single twenty-somethings,” NCC has had to find its way with commitment and experimentation.

The best part about Community Is Messy?  It goes way beyond a great collection of metaphor and ministry stories.  Deeply biblical, these pages are packed with scripture references and classic Bible stories that will definitely find their way into your leadership toolkit.  Every chapter is packed with principles and practices that will make their way into your thinking.

You may not agree with every conclusion.  No matter.  Your thinking will be challenged and your ministry will be strengthened.  I loved Community Is Messy and I bet you will too.

Public Service Announcement: If you want to connect unconnected people you’re going to have to create connecting steps that are easy, obvious, and strategic.

Ever notice how often we begin with a crystal clear understanding of a genuine need (for example, lots of unconnected people in our congregation) and end up with a strategy that is sludge-like muddy at best?

Full disclosure…this happens to me, too!  I’ve begun developing connecting strategies with clarity many times and by the time the strategy is through all of the hoops…it requires a miraculous Old Testament kind of outcome.

Feel me?

Is there a solution?  Yes.  Is it a no-brainer?  No.  If you want to connect unconnected people you’re going to have to create connecting steps that are easy, obvious, and strategic.

Here’s an example:

If you’re setting up a host ask (recruiting hosts for a church-wide campaign) the most productive formula is:

1. Senior pastor makes the ask in the message (see How to Make the HOST Ask: the 2012 Version)
2. The ask includes pulling out a sign-up form from the bulletin, holding it up, and saying “fill this form out and drop it in the offering in a few minutes.”
3. As you’re preparing to take the offering, remind the congregation to “drop the host sign-up form into the offering basket.”

Easy: All the sign-up form asks for is name, phone number, and email.  It can be filled out in seconds.

Obvious: It’s in the bulletin.  The senior pastor is holding it up for everyone to see.

Strategic: Completed forms go in the offering basket.

Contrast the above with the following:

Bad Option #1: An announcement is used to promote the opportunity to host a group.  ”If you’d like to host a group, stop off at host central in the lobby and fill out a form.”  (An announcement never has the impact as an ask in the senior pastor’s message.  Sending potential hosts into the lobby invites a change of mind, putting it off until next week, etc.)

Bad Option #2: Pastor mentions the opportunity in the message by saying, “We have a group curriculum that goes along with our next series.  We want everyone to host a group or be in a group.  There’s a tear-off in your bulletin that you can give to someone on your way out.” (The absence of specific instructions creates indecision on the part of potential hosts.  A tear-off in place of an insert adds the embarrassment of tearing out the form.  The invitation to host a group or be in a group insures fewer host sign-ups.)

If you want to connect unconnected people you’re going to have to create connecting steps that are easy, obvious, and strategic.

What do you think?  Have an idea?  Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Looking for an opportunity to raise your leadership bar?  To grow in your ability to connect beyond usual suspects?  I want to invite you to join my 2012 Fall Small Group Ministry Coaching Network; an experience designed to give you the tools and strategies you need in order to build a small group ministry that works in the 21st century.

The coaching network program will expose you to a new perspective.  While it makes sense to many that in order to get different results you need to do different things…it’s not always clear what those different things might be.  The coaching network program is designed around the idea that different, not better, leads to the kind of strategy that connects beyond the usual suspects.

My 2012 Fall Small Group Ministry Coaching Network begins in late September and I still have several openings.  You can find out all about it right here.  I’m hoping you’ll come along!

Looking for a way to open group members’ eyes to the gospel thread that runs through the Old Testament?  You’re going to want to take a look at Creation Restored: The Gospel According to Genesis by Matt Carter and Halim Suh.  An examination of Genesis 12-50, this study “explores how the very first book of the Bible foreshadows the gospel of Jesus Christ–the good news of salvation and redemption that we find only in Him.”

This study is the follow up to Creation Unraveled (released in 2011 an covering Genesis 1 to 11), Carter has said, “Nothing has given me a better understanding of the gospel of Jesus and the purpose of the cross than studying the Book of Genesis.  Genesis hasn’t only increased my knowledge of the gospel; it’s also increased my love for the gospel.”

Developed by Threads (LifeWay’s young adult line of curriculum), Creation Restored finds its roots in a message series on Genesis preached by Matt Carter (lead pastor), Halim Suh (elder and equipping pastor) and others at The Austin Stone Community Church in 2009.  Austin Stone, a dynamic church in Austin, Texas, is known for Carter’s expository preaching and missional small group emphasis.

While created as a curriculum line for young adults, the format lends itself to any group that is looking for a little bit of a challenge.  While there is a DVD, this isn’t a DVD-driven study.  The video segments in Creation Restored are an enhancement, but not an essential ingredient.

The member book is fully loaded with scripture, thought-provoking questions, quotes and excerpts from authors like Tim Keller and Walter Brueggemann, and much more.  Although this isn’t a homework driven study, there is enough here to make it likely that many groups will stretch the material over a couple sessions.

Although the member content is very thorough, you’ll find a very rich collection of leader helps on the DVD.  At the same time, the member book is generously sprinkled with tips and suggestions, along with interesting references to contributing ideas.

There is a lot here.  Certain groups will absolutely love this study.  Others will simply find it too much of a stretch.  If you’ve got groups looking for a serious challenge, Creation Restored definitely needs to be on your radar.

Is it time to change direction?  Try something new?  Admit that old faithful isn’t working anymore?  Or would one more try really be the right thing to do?

Here are my top 1o reasons to give a failed strategy one more chance:

1. Failure is such a harsh word.  You prefer to think of it as not quite succeeding.
2. You are inspired by Maxwell Smart and think of it as “missing it by that much!”
3. In the words of Woody Allen, “80% of success is just showing up.”
4. You’ve already got budget for it!
5. If at first you don’t succeed, eventually mediocre will come back in style.
6. Thirteenth times the cha–what?
7. You’ve already got the rooms reserved!
8. You think Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction is about being persistent.
9. Turns out Einstein had it wrong.  ”Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” is the definition of longsuffering!
10. Andy Stanley is really prone to exaggerate.  Your ministry is probably only sort’ve designed to produce the results you’re currently experiencing.

What do you think?  Have an idea?  Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Ever wonder what’s next in grouplife?  Have any ideas?

In 1996 I heard about an experiment at Willow Creek called a Taste of Community.  Knowing only a little bit about it, I held a connecting event and sorted attendees out by the style of music they listened to.  Seriously.  It actually worked.

I remember first hearing about something at Saddleback called a small group connection.  You should’ve seen the look on my boss’s face at Fellowship of The Woodlands when I wanted to try it.

“Let me get this straight.  You get a bunch of people to come to an event.  You group them by affinity…around tables…and they have a conversation…and at the end of the event they choose their own leader by pointing on the count of three?  Right….”

Over the next 15 months we connected over 1500 people into 120 new groups using the connection.  Amazing, huh?

I remember arguing with Brett Eastman about the host strategy.  ”How could it possibly be better than the small group connection?”  Of course, when we launched over 250 new small groups in the fall of 2002 with a home grown campaign called Once Upon a Town, it was like scales fell off my eyes and I could see.

Ever had that happen?

What do you think is next?  Do you think there’s something on the horizon that will break grouplife wide open?

I love the Thomas Friedman line that says,

“Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary.”

Isn’t that a great line?  There’s so much that is desperately necessary.  How will we reach the 60% that are unreachable with the attractional model?  What must happen in order for us to connect people no one else is connecting?

Any ideas about what is suddenly possible?

What do you think?  Have an idea?  Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Want to build a small group ministry for the 21st century?  I think there are a few essential practices.  In fact, if you want to connect beyond the usual suspects, you need to:

1. Look for leaders who are closer to the edge of your congregation.  If you want to connect beyond the usual suspects, you’ve got to find ways to identify, recruit and develop potential leaders from the outer edges of the congregation and inner edges of the crowd.  The small group connection strategy is an example of this and so is the host strategy coupled with a church-wide campaign.  Both strategies implemented correctly are designed to produce unexpected leaders.  See also The X Factor is Near the Edge
2. Characterize connected in community as normal.  If you want to connect way beyond the average adult weekend attendance, you’ll need to leave behind the idea that small group involvement is somehow extracurricular, a menu choice, heroic or sacrificial.  Instead, grouplife must be seen as an ordinary part of the Christ-follower pattern.  See also Top 10 Reasons Saddleback Has Connected Over 130% in Small Groups
3. Prioritize the needs and interests of unconnected people.  Too often we’re spending our energy trying to satisfy the interests of the already connected at the expense of the unconnected.  If you want what you’re doing in the 21st century to matter, you must develop an others first mentality.  See also Preoccupied with the Needs and Interests of the Right People
4. Design grouplife to function as both next step and first step.  It becomes more likely every day that first steps will happen outside of the weekend service.  Come over for dinner is easier than come with me to church.  At the same time, since the optimal environment for life-change is a small group (not listening to the pastor’s sermon or Bible teaching in an ABF), next steps must be built into the life of the group I’m already in.  See also Next Steps for Everyone and First Steps for Their Friends
5. Integrate discipleship into the ordinary grouplife experience.  Not a class or an elective, discipleship must become factory installed.  Not an add on.  Not an upgrade.  Built into the ordinary function of every small group.  See also Diagnosing Your Discipleship Strategy

What do you think?  Have a question?  Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

I’ve said many times that there’s an upside and a downside to everything.  And we all ought to be on the lookout for upsides to be leveraged and downsides to guard against.  I actually use the phrase, “downsides to be mitigated.”

Sometimes people want to paint it differently.  Sometimes people will want you to believe that there’s a black and white answer to everything.  That is almost never true.  Far more often, we operate in the haze while in search of clarity.

Can you see how this is our life?  It’s not simple, is it?

Without wishing to make your life more complicated…I want to give you a few things to think about and they have to do with something called weak ties.

Weak Ties

Do you know the social network theory, The Strength of Weak Ties?  Developed by American sociologist Mark Granovetter, one of the basic ideas is that weak (relational) ties enable reaching populations and audiences that are not accessible via strong (relational) ties.

I want to repeat that line.  Don’t miss this: “Weak ties enable reaching populations and audiences that are not accessible via strong ties.”

The theory has applications for many situations from job search to dating.  Essentially, if you need a job or are on the proverbial hunt for Mr. or Miss Right, the wider network of acquaintances are more productive than the narrow network of close friends (for more information, read Granovetter’s paper, The Strength of Weak Ties).

I have a four grouplife takeaways and I believe they are all significant:

First, the longer and more deeply a person is connected within your congregation (for example, in a small group or on a serving team), the stronger internal ties become.  And we love that, don’t we?  We want to leverage the upside of new healthy relationships that become the optimal environment for life-change.

Second, the longer and more deeply a person is connected within your congregation, the weaker and fainter external ties become.  I don’t love this.  This is one of the main reasons I am a fan of open groups.  I actually want to leverage the extensive ties that a thinly connected member still has in the community.  Remember, “weak (relational) ties enable reaching populations and audiences that are not accessible via strong (relational) ties.”  See also, The Ongoing Open vs Closed Group Debate.

Don’t both of these seem to be upsides to be leveraged?  Here are a couple downsides to be mitigated:

Third, we all know that bad company corrupts good character.  One could make the argument that continuing to associate with the old life is a downside to be mitigated.  This understanding motivates many to guard against the downside of maintaining contact and relationships who aren’t part of the congregation.  Truthfully, a misunderstanding and poor interpretation of  scripture has prompted a fortress mentality that is not at all what Jesus had in mind.  See also An “In” But Not “Of” M.O.

Fourth, thinly connected members of the crowd (to use Saddleback’s concentric circle metaphor) are always one tough thing away from not being at your church.  Loss of a job.  Divorce or separation.  A devastating diagnosis.  A child in trouble (see What’s Your Urgency Level for Connecting People?).

Can you see how this is a downside to be guarded against?  This is a Matthew 9:36 understanding, isn’t it?  ”When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

My prayer for all of you?  Don’t let mitigating the downsides keep you from leveraging the upsides of weak ties.  Weak ties enable reaching populations and audiences that are not accessible via strong ties.

What do you think?  Have a question?  Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Looking for your next women’s Bible study? You might want to take a look at Missing Pieces: Real Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense.  New from Jennifer Rothschild and LifeWay, this is a study that will give hope to many and touch a lot of hearts.

If you’re unfamiliar with Jennifer Rothschild, you may want to take a look at her story.  An engaging speaker, your members will find themselves pulled into her story and ready to share their own story.

DVD-Driven, Missing Pieces is a 7 session study, suitable for both larger on-campus studies or small groups that meet in homes.  The DVD segments average 20 to 30 minutes and the Member Book provides a simple viewing guide for taking notes as well as a conversation guide to help your group(s) get started.  A thoughtfully designed leader’s guide provides additional discussion questions and scripture references that will take your members deep into the topic.

Missing Pieces takes a probing look at 6 of the most common questions that people ask when they cry out to God:

1. Do you care?
2. Are you fair?
3. Are you there?
4. Are you aware?
5. Do you hear prayer?
6. Do you err?

The DVD includes a short one minute promotional segment that can be used to advertise the study.

The Member Book also includes six weeks of daily devotional studies for every session that will guide an exploration of this important topic.  Each devotional study is designed to pull participants a little further into the topic and will take most participants 30 to 45 minutes.  Since one or two of the session discussion questions refer back to the daily devotionals, working through them will enhance the study.

If you’re looking for a study that will grab the attention of the women in your congregation (as well as their friends), this is a topic that will have broad appeal.  I really like the potential of Missing Pieces to connect many and start a lot of conversations.  I think you will too.

Prefer to buy from LifeWay?  You can do that right here.